Thoracic Cardiovascular Surgery

The Clinic for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery is headed by Prof. Dr. Ingo Kutschka. Both specialty areas cardiac surgery and thoracic and vascular surgery are focused on at this clinic. A team of 12 senior physicians and 18 residents perform more than 2,100 operations each year, and about 1,000 of these are heart operations, including heart transplantations and surgery in infants and children. We provide the highest level of patient care and adhere consistently to internal and external quality standards. Online connections to external cardiologists and cardiac catherization labs, allowing us access to all patient data and imaging, makes our clinic one of the most sought-after and reliable partners in Lower Saxony, Northern Hessen, Thuringia and East Westphalia and beyond. We also provide a qualified thoracic surgery unit in a pulmonary tumor center as well as a modern vascular and endovascular surgical unit, and for both of these, we work in close cooperation with other experts in inpatient and outpatient care in the region. The emergency rescue helicopter Christoph 44 is available for the emergency care of our cardiac surgery patients.

Central Surgical Unit

In the central operating unit, the Clinic for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery has five operating rooms available 24 hours a day. In the newly equipped, highly modern hybrid operating room, an interdisciplinary team of physicians and nursing staff from the specialty areas heart surgery, cardiology, anesthesiology and radiology work together closely. This makes it possible for us as a modern university cardiology clinic to provide our patients with surgical procedures that are as low-risk as possible. Especially older and severely ill patients profit from our forward-looking concepts.

Cardiac Technology

Five modern heart-lung machines make up the core equipment in our cardiovascular technology facility. We prefer to use very small and modern systems as these are particularly gentle for patient procedures. A team of 10 cardiovascular technologists with in-depth training and long years of experience are on duty 24 hours a day to facilitate extracorporeal circulation in adults, children and infants. In addition, the complete spectrum of intra- and extracorporeal circulatory support systems are maintained by our cardio techniques. This includes intra-aortal balloon pumps, catheter-based axial pumps for left and right heart support, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and implanted artificial heart systems.

Inpatient Care

Our clinic has a total of 86 beds with three normal wards (2011, 2013, 4021). Both the intensive care unit (0116) and the intermediate care unit (2012) are headed by cardiac surgery and intensive care specialists: all cardiovascular support procedures including temporary heart and lung substitution via extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and renal substitution therapy are performed. In the normal wards as well, continuous telemetric monitoring of cardiac rhythm and oxygen supply of patients is possible, thus ensuring for safety not only during the post-operative treatment phase but also for pre-operative monitoring of high-risk patients.

Outpatient Clinic and Outpatient Surgical Procedures

In our outpatient clinic, patients with cardiac, vascular and pulmonary diseases are treated, and pre- as well as post-operative examinations are performed. During our consultation office hours, we plan and organize outpatient and inpatient surgical procedures. Our experts in the areas of thoracic, cardiac, pediatric cardiac and vascular surgery are also available for second opinions. Patients with severe, therapy-refractory heart failure are cared for with surgical and cardiological expertise to guide them to artificial heart transplantation or heart transplantation procedures.

Special Chair for Pediatric Cardiac Surgery

Surgical procedures to repair congenital heart defects, whether in newborns or in adults, are done in the special Department for Pediatric Cardiac Surgery headed by Prof. Dr. med. Wolfgang Ruschewski, who is supported in this endeavor by a number of experienced senior physicians. Together they carry out a total of more than 150 pediatric cardiac operations every year. The pre- and postoperative care of these patients takes place in the Clinic for Pediatric Cardiology and Intensive Care Medicine. A particular concern in the Heart Center Göttingen is the care provided to young adults with congenital heart defects (ACHD), who make up approximately 20% of all pediatric cardiac surgeries.

Main Treatments Offered

Total arterial bypass operations with and without heart-lung machine (OPCAB)